Corn Snake stopped eating

[breana@mail.org]

Ok I have a year old male corn snake. He has a huge tank with plants and 3 place to crawl in and hide a huge watering dish that he can swim in. Did I mention this is the same tank he has been in since we brought him home. He started w/ frozen then pinkies the fuzzys then small mice to medium and has been eating 2-3 a week for 3 months. So I decided to breed my own mice. So I put 2 fuzzys that had their eyes open in his tank and he did not eat them. So after 3 days I took them out and I waited a few days and put 1 back in. Now we are on day 20 and he has not eaten. The mouse still is scare of him when he comes out but he acts like the mouse is not even there. He is out of his hiding area all the time and likes to be handled. He has never bitten or tried. I want to make sure he is ok. Now right before I added the last mouse, he had aten 3 hopers and shedd from head to tail. How long his ok. Should I smack a mouse dead to see if he will eat it? Oh tank is usuall 75-80 and warm side but tank is big enough he can go over to other side were the water is and another hide on the cooler side. Any help is good. Thank you Breana

[MojoHerps]

Three weeks without eating is not a long time for a snake so don't worry. Snakes can go months without eating and do just fine.

There are many reasons why snakes stop eating and often we just don't understand why! If your snake was eating frozen thawed before he may not want live. He may be looking for love and is more interested in sex.

Corn snakes really only need to be fed one prey item every 1 - 2 weeks. Most yearlings are eating hoppers or weans. Before my corns reach adult mice size I give them a prey item that is up to 1 1/2 times the width of the cornsnakes mid section.


Do you have a photo if him?

[alessia55]

So after 3 days I took them out and I waited a few days and put 1 back in.[/qoute]
You should never put live mice in with your snake for days. You should supervise the mice when they are in the cage with your snake at all times. It's not worth any risks.
You should wait at least 7-10 days between offering food. Offering food any more often than that will only stress your snake out more.

[quote]Now we are on day 20 and he has not eaten. The mouse still is scare of him when he comes out but he acts like the mouse is not even there.
20 days without eating isn't anything worth worrying about. Snakes can go a long time without eating. He is not starving. Just keep offering what he's used to eating every 7-10 days.
Should I smack a mouse dead to see if he will eat it?
If he was used to eating frozen/thawed, maybe going back to that feeding method will spark his interest in eating.

he has been eating 2-3 a week for 3 months.
Out of curiosity, why are you feeding him 2-3 mice per week, instead of 1 larger mouse? It may be that you are overfeeding him.

[Gungirl]

NEVER leave the prey Item in the same tank as the snake for days on end. All you are doing is stressing your snake out and it is going to get bitten by the mice. If it was eating frozen thawed then only offer it frozen thawed. Give it 10 days or so before you offer food again seeing as you left the mice in the tank with the snake for days at a time.

[exwizard]

I second what the above posts have to say about feeding live mice. Also I just had a recent acquisition of a Corn that did not eat for over two months since I first brought him home. I chalked it up to breeding season and kept trying every week. He finally ate for me last week. Its ok if they dont eat for months. Actually it stresses the owner out more than the snake for this to happen. ;)

[Lankyrob]

He is a male, it is spring, that could be your reason for him not eating :)

As for feeding regularly, for the first year with my corns i fed one prey item that was 1.5 to 2 times larger in girth than the snake every 7 days. Once they are a year old i feed one prey item that is 2 to 2.5 times the girth of the snake every 14 days then again in 21 days thne 14 days etc etc etc.

Allthree of mine go off food at some point between December - May for upto 3 months or so (even those that are "too young" to breed)